In The Times today:-
Extract from article -
Russia is pressing Turkey for access to a key airbase used by the US as it tries to extend its influence in the Middle East.
The American-built Incirlik base, about 65 miles from the Syrian border, is used by Nato and has about 50 US nuclear warheads stored on site. A senior Russian politician said that allowing Russian jets and bombers to use it would be a logical continuation of President Erdogan’s efforts to rebuild Turkey’s relations with the Kremlin.
“It just remains to come to an agreement with Erdogan that we get the Nato base Incirlik as [our] primary airbase,” Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the upper house’s committee on international affairs, said. This would allow the Russian air force to subject Islamic State and other jihadist groups to “constant bombing” and bring the war to a quicker conclusion, he said.
“You’ll see, the next base will be Incirlik,” he told Izvestia, a Moscow daily, after the Kremlin revealed this week that its bombers had started using a base in Iran to launch attacks on Syria. “This will be one more victory for Putin.”
